The Independent Pregnancy Loss Review - Care and support when baby loss occurs before 24 weeks gestation (22 July 2023)

Summary

A vision for improving the care and support available to families when baby loss occurs before 24 weeks' gestation.

Content

This independent review sets out the government's vision for improving the care of people who experience pre-24-week baby loss. It describes a system in which:

• Everyone receives high-quality education about pre-24-week baby loss before they become pregnant through the statutory relationships, health and sex education (RHSE) curriculum.
• All groups of people – regardless of race, colour, age, gender, sexual orientation or religion – have their voices heard and choices upheld.
• There is clarity about whom to call and where to go when pain and bleeding occur at any stage of pregnancy, and what to expect during and after baby loss.
• Access to compassionate clinical care in appropriate healthcare settings is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through networked services.
• All parents receive clear and consistent information and support, enabling them to make decisions about their physical and mental health care needs during and after baby loss.
• Care is compassionate, individualised and respectful of personal, cultural, religious and language preferences, and parents and their babies (including baby loss remains at any gestation) are cared for with dignity and respect.
• Regardless of gestation, all bereaved parents are offered choices regarding creating memories of their baby and options regarding marking their loss, such as funerals or memorial ceremonies, as appropriate.
• Women and partners experiencing loss are routinely offered mental health support following a loss, and have access to specialist counselling and mental health services, where appropriate.
• Bereaved parents can, on request, receive a baby loss certificate from the government, whether their loss was recent or historic.
• Following a baby loss, individuals and couples are supported to understand why the loss occurred, and are offered a follow-up appointment to discuss the results and implications of any investigations. A robust management plan must be in place for subsequent pregnancies – this may include referral to a specialist consultant obstetrician or gynaecologist.
• All healthcare professionals working in baby loss services receive multidisciplinary mandatory bereavement care training and information, including education on the importance of psychological wellbeing and self-care for staff to ensure they can provide the highest quality of care. Staff should be allocated time to attend, and their compliance should be monitored.
• Employers recognise the impact of baby loss on employees and human resources (HR) policies are updated to support their staff
• There are systems in place for employers to manage the potential impacts on the mental health and wellbeing of all staff employed in workplaces providing baby loss services.